While assembling the budget proposal in February 2021, the United States Senate had secured enough votes to include an item that would raise the minimum wage in this country to $15 an hour by the year 2025. The minimum wage has not gone up since 2009, and with partisan gridlock stifling its passage through legislative means this was the best opportunity to give the majority of Americans a raise. However, this budget item was ultimately removed by the Senate Parliamentarian because it violated the rules of the governing body and their budget process.
When it comes to rules, I am one who thinks occasionally they deserve to be broken, especially if it benefits a greater number of people. Knowing the power the Parliamentarian has to stop things from happening is the reason that I ran for the position on the District Student Association (DSA) last summer, and I have been serving in that position since.
The DSA is the governing body that speaks to the greater student population’s needs, and as the Parliamentarian it is my job to make sure that the body follows rules and procedure. I take this position very seriously, but believe that the most important responsibility that I and my fellow DSA Officers have is to serve in the way that will benefit students the most. It is for that reason that on February 27, during our yearly budget discussion, I proposed that student fees be increased by $5 per credit hour over the next two years.
I will not beat around the bush, this is an effective increase in the amount that students will pay for college at this school. For example, the Registered Nurse Program is a total of 65 credit hours, that means with this increase that the program’s cost would go up by $325 dollars. I recognize that $325 is a not insignificant amount of money for many of our students, myself included! However, the benefit of such an increase means a significant extension in the services we can provide for our students as a college, as well as continue to provide salaries for those who serve us directly in Student Life.
Currently, the student fees cover a wealth of services that help our students including childcare, the Men of Color Initiative, and the MATC Times. These funds also are regularly used by student organizations to fund educational trips that go beyond the program like Nurses Day at the Capitol and sending students to HVAC or Horticulture conventions. We sent a group of students to the United Nations and helped fund the upcoming MATC Prom with student fees. These fees are a segregated pool of funding that is dedicated exclusively towards improving your experience on campus. The way these funds are spent is also determined by our student body as represented by the DSA and the representatives from the various student organizations on campus.
I like to think of our student fees similarly to the way that we pay taxes at a state and federal level. Our taxes are not an insignificant portion of our income, however they go towards funding the programs we rely on the most, like firefighters, medicaid, and pell grants. According to the Institution on Taxation and Economic Policy, the lowest earning 1/5 of Americans pay 17.1% of their income on taxes. Seeing the money taken out of each paycheck stings, however it goes towards paying for the things we all need and could not afford on our own. It is likewise with student fees, when everyone pays a little then we all get a lot!
Also just like taxes, if you do not like the way your student fees are being spent, then you have the power to change that. District Student Association elections are taking place in April , and I would love to see a great number of students running for these positions! Even if you don’t want to run for office you are able to vote for those who will run. You have a say as a student.
